CHAPTER ONE - IT BEGINS
‘Welcome to Necara Online. With Over forty races to choose from, and two times that amount of classes, we hope you enjoy playing our game.’ the game says as it begins to load up
It starts up by showing me my blank stat sheet. There is a race section that is rapidly flashing. I tap it, and suddenly a bunch of pedestals light up ahead of me. At the base of each one is a sign with a race name, and they all look like me, with slight variations. I walk over to them. The closest three are the typical Dwarf, Human and Elf. Or to be more exact, there is a Mountain Dwarf, Human, And High Elf. After them are two more Dwarves, and two more Elves. Not interested. Suddenly the pedestals with the Elves and Dwarves disappear. It appears that any choices I make will influence this blank area around me. Over to a side I notice a Skeleton. I do not want to be an Undead. With that thought six more pedestals disappear. I still have thirty-three more options. There are two little short guys. One is a gnome, and one is a halfling. I am not particularly interested in being shorter, so Those two disappear, along with a third. I still have a lot of options though. Out of the corner of my eye I notice an Orc, and a Troll. I shake my head and they vanish too. I notice some movement. Really though it's just two were creatures transforming to show off their status of being a were. I am not really interested in that kind of thing, so they vanish. Now I just have the Beastkin races, and the Human. I don't want scales, so five disappear. I'm not really interested in becoming a demon, so that is another one down. I now have to choose between one of eighteen varieties of beastkin, or the human. I don't want to stick out too much, so all the feral beastkin with their fur, and all the bird beastkin disappear. Now there are seven choices. With the cats, I merge them into a random cat beastkin choice, so now I have four choices. I don't want to be a typical beastkin, so it brings me to just Humans and Fox Beastkin. I look at the lore.
‘There are only 10,000 Fox Beastkin, including the feral variety, but not including the 14 players, which makes this race an endangered race. These people are most commonly found in the Wolf and Cat Beastkin nations, uncommonly found in the human kingdoms, rarely found in other nations, and very rarely found in their own small nation. Like most Beastkin, they are often found as slaves in the Non-Beastkin lands.’
‘Humans are found all over the world. With the largest population at nearly two billion people, this is the largest race. They hail from several kingdoms / countries all over the main continent. About three eighths of the player population are humans.’
Hmm. I'm gonna go with the beastkin. Looking him over before finally selecting, the only thing separating him from a human is his fox like ears, and a small tail. Seems good. I select him, and go back to the character sheet. A picture shows up to the side showing a fox kin version of me. Dark red-brown hair and two little fox ears on the head. A fairly standard face with hazel eyes, it doesn't really stand out. My body is fairly fit, with a bit of flabbiness instead of abs. I am pretty tall too. There is a little fox like tail at the base of my spine, and my legs are fairly normal. My skin is a mid to light tan.
Now a new section, labeled class is blinking. Tapping it, a whole set of new options come up, as well as an informational note.
‘There are almost over two times as many classes as there are races.’
Almost over? That seems contradictory. As I start wandering through the rows of class pedestals, I start to filter out what I don't want. Melee is immediately thrown out the window, eliminating the fighter and swordsman classes. As they disappear I notice that there are a lot less classes than advertised. Probably only showing beginner classes. I don't want a control type class, so psychomancer and puppeteer are gone too. I’m not going for an archer. That takes out hunter, ranger, and archer. I’m not a command type person, so tactician and commander are gone. I don't want an ordinary worker type class, such as miner or farmer or some form of inn worker, so eight or nine more classes are gone. I'm not sneaky, so assassin and rogue are also gone.I don't want to be a healer, so that's a few more classes gone. Now I have Mage, Summoner, Warlock, Ritualist, Priest, Crafter, or Herbalist to choose from. I assume the priest can be changed into a cleric, templar, or paladin. I'm not interested right now, but I might multiclass. I don't feel like going down the path of herbalist, that's gonna open up only healer and alchemist, neither of which am I interested in. A wizard doesn't interest me, and a summoner kinda seems like it can only evolve into necromancy or control. That means I have three choices left. My options are Warlock, Ritualist, and crafter. Warlocks don't really look like something I am interested in, they appear to just be a male version of a witch in this game. Ritualist sounds a bit dangerous, and definitely sounds like something I would get singled out for. That leaves crafter. It sounds a bit boring, but I think I might enjoy it. Plus even if I don't, there are ways to multi-class, and the classes don't seem to be restrictions, just more of specializations.
Looking back to the character menu, a slot labeled name flashes. I put my real name, Nathan, to keep things simple. Then I look at characteristics. There are 8 characteristics. Strength, Constitution, Agility, Dexterity, Wisdom, Intelligence, Charisma, and Luck. All of them except Luck have ten points assigned. Luck is at one, and assigning a point to it actually takes five of my fifty assignable stat points. I can either assign four points to every stat other than karma, with one left over, or I can do I more customized approach. I decide to do the latter. As a crafter I'm going to need intelligence and dexterity. I toss seven points into dexterity, and eight into intelligence. Five points go into charisma so that I can sell my products. Ten points for four stats… I add four to strength, and three to wisdom. Constitution will be important, so I add two, which leaves one point for agility. Overlooking my final character sheet before entering the game shows;
Name:
Nathan
Level:
1 (0/1000)
Race:
Fox Beastkin
Class:
Crafter
Mana:
Mana Regen:
Spare Stat Points:
0
Spare Skill Points:
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2
Strength:
14
Constitution:
12
Dexterity
17
Agility
11
Intelligence
18
Wisdom
13
Charisma:
15
Luck:
1
It looks like I have two skill points to assign to my first few skills. That's cool. I press the confirm button at the bottom of my now complete character sheet. Upon pressing a second confirm message, a new menu pops up. It shows my starter inventory, which is very empty. I have some commoner's clothes, a backpack, and two of what are called “kin's gold pieces”. The gold pieces are presumably a standard fantasy gold coin. It looks like I can sell any of the items to add to the gold pieces, but I’m gonna need those going forward.
As I finish reading that screen, a flash occurs, and a final menu pops up. It gives me three scenarios to choose from. I can either start as a slave and endure the hardship it will take to get out, but that will heavily reduce my starting gear, and toss me into a chain of quests and disaster. I can start at a random Beastkin city, giving me more business opportunities, but making me stand out. Or for the final choice I could start at the Fox Beastkin's hometown. The home town will give me less competition, and I can start doing racial quests. I choose the home town, so that if or when I get a mapping skill, I can know the location right off the bat. Because the thing is… this town probably won't be on any map, making racial quests harder to complete. That's how it will have stayed so hidden, and not all of the Fox Beastkin fell into slavery. I select it, my vision flashes once again and I appear in the town of Bardford.
The first thing I notice is the lack of noisiness, and the low amount of traffic. I can see maybe ten people, and yet this town is supposedly home to around five thousand. The next thing I notice is the fact that my clothes and gear are in a ple next to me. I quickly slip the clothes on, thanking the fact that the game had the decency to at least auto equip some underwear.I slip the pack onto my back, and stand up. Above the door for every building on this street, there is a sign. Closer to me is the general store, whilst empty buildings, and specialised crafters seem to be further down the road. At the end of the road there is a tower, and the road seems to circle it. Turning around reveals an open gate, an a wall leading around the edge of town. Time to get down to business. The first thing I do is walk into the general store, and immediately start looking for a notebook. I don't find one, so I ask the shopkeep about it. He reveals that if I wanted paper or a notebook I would need to go to the scribe. I notice some rations. I grab a few of those and put them on the counter. I grab a small knife I see. I also grab a slingshot. I put those on the counter. Next I grab a fanny pack. Storage is a must. I ask the merchant the price. “Ten copper per ration, and a silver for each of the weapons. Five silver for the fanny pack.” I put down a gold coin, and the shop owner gives me 92 silver back, looking at me strangely as he does. “It's pretty odd to use a gold coin for something so cheap.” I shake my head, and say, “Pleasure doing business with you,” as I leave.
Looking up the street I start considering where I should go next. I need to go to the scribe so that I can get a notebook, and start taking notes. I should also get a bestiary and a herb lore book. I head down the street to the scribe shop. Walking in, I notice the smell of new books. I walk over to the shelves. I grab the equivalent to a pencil, which looks like a pencil without paint or an eraser. I grab something to erase with too. Nice of the developers to make things easier, and not need learn how to use a quill and ink right off the bat. Moving along the shelves, there are many different types of notebooks. I grab a gray one that looks to have over a hundred sheets. I grab some mapping paper as well. However, I cannot find any herb lore, or bestiary books. I go over to the shop keep. “I'd like to buy this notebook, pencil and eraser, as well as this blank map. I’d also like a bestiary and herb lore book.” the scribe replies with a laugh in his voice, “I can get you those for just over fifty silver total, but I don't have any lore books here. The notebook will be about twenty silver, the map will be about fifteen, and the pencil and eraser together are about ten more silver.If you buy a second notebook, I can probably give you a third half off. That would mean thirty more silver, bringing you up to eighty.” “Why would I need more notebooks?” I ask, upset about the lack of lore books. “Why to write up your own bestiary and herb lore book. I'll even throw in an inspect scroll for ten silver.” I move to the shelves, grab a red notebook, and a green notebook. Then I put my 92 silver on the counter, scooping up everything I purchased. “Keep the change” I tell the shopkeep, walking out the shop with only half the money I started with. I slipped my notebooks into one of the pockets on the fanny pack, and the pencil into another. I head back to the general store, and for another two silver get a little container to slip into a pocket on the fanny pack to store and sort collected herbs in. I also get a container to put meat and furs in, without them getting all over the contents of my backpack. That ends up giving him five more silver, which gets rid of my second gold. I was about to pay as I realized that I would probably need a weapon. I ask for a knife. He pulls one out and says that it would cost 25 silver. I agree and pay. I pass him my last gold piece, and he gives me 70 silver back.I grab one of the coins he gave me back, and put it back on the counter, and say, “Thank you for helping me. Here’s a small tip as a gesture of my apreciation.”Then I walk out of the store, checking my notifications as I do.
Reputation Gains
* Gained 200 Reputation with Nick [Scribe]
* Gained 100 Reputation with Tom [Merchant]
Item Gains / Losses
* Lost 2 gold coins
* Gained 69 silver
* Gained Fanny pack [Common] 90%
* Gained 10 rations
* Gained Herb storage
* Gained Gained Meat/Fur Storage
* Gained Notebook (Grey) [Uncommon]
* Gained Notebook (Red) [Uncommon]
* Gained Notebook (Green) [Uncommon]
* Gained Pencil [Uncommon]
* Gained Eraser [Uncommon]
* Gained Skill Scroll (Inspect) [Uncommon]
* Used Skill Scroll (Inspect) [Uncommon]
Other Gains
* Gained Skill Trading Level 1
* Skill Trading Levelled up to Level 2
* Gained Skill Inspect Level 2 (Via Scroll)
* Experience Gained 100
* Level Up
That's plenty of gains, right off the bat. I smile to myself and start walking to the town gate.